


Fates Colliding

by reaperlight, ZombieJesus



Series: Soulwalker AU [1]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga), Death Note: Another Note
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Awkwardness, Body Horror, Body Swap AU, Crack, Dark Comedy, Dark and Edgy Soulmate AU, Disturbing Themes, Don't repost, Fated Soulmates Are Difficult To Plan Around, Fluff, Fridge Horror, Grave Robbers, Hopeful Ending, Horror, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Mostly Canon Compliant, Murphy's Law of Soulmate AUs, Out of Body Experiences, Shinigami, Shinigami/Human Relationships, Soulmate Horror, Soulwalk AU, Spoilers, Traumatize The Taskforce Challenge, Unfortunate Implications, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Tension, Unsettling, Video & Computer Games, Worldbuilding, do not copy to another site, some really disturbing shit mentioned in passing, the unfortunate implications of soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 04:20:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19077364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlight/pseuds/reaperlight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieJesus/pseuds/ZombieJesus
Summary: The Soulwalk, a sacred rite of passage, had long been one of Kira’s worst fears.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ZombieJesus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieJesus/gifts).



> Based on duskydeath's tumblr prompt.  
> AU where when you turn 25 you have an out of body experience where you switch bodies with your soulmate. 
> 
> Chaos ensues. 
> 
> Also thanks to ZombieJesus who helped me hash out some of the details.

**“Huh? What’s up with that?”** Ryuk wondered aloud when he watched Misa storming into their apartment which now doubled as HQ, retreating into her bedroom in tears, and slamming the door behind her. 

Light gave a put upon sigh. “It’s her twenty-fifth birthday today.”

 **“Oh! Right… I take it you two aren’t…?”** Ryuk asked with a chuckle since the answer seemed obvious. 

“No.” Light said, massaging his forehead against the oncoming headache. 

It’s not like he was expecting anything different. It was just an inconvenience, really. He’d just have to watch Misa more closely over the next few days but at least Misa’s loyalty for him hadn’t seemed to have wavered any after this ordeal. If anything she was more determined than ever that Light was her one-and-only and that they were meant to be. 

He would have gagged, had he not found her eyes a useful tool.

Light moved over to the window to look out at the Tokyo cityscape. 

His city. 

_His Kingdom._

All his. 

He was the God of the New World. 

He’d eliminated his foes, he should be reveling in his victory, but instead he just felt hollow. 

And furthermore he had to contend with this ridiculousness. 

His plans for Godhood and global conquest really shouldn’t be so complicated by something as insipid as _Fated Soulmates._

**“Huh… I wonder who it is then.”**

“I take it that it’s not a problem.” 

Ryuk joined him in gazing out the window. **“Do you think it's Rem? Or… would have been?”** he mused aloud. 

_“Rem?!”_ Light barked out a startled laugh at the idea. He hadn’t even considered that Shinigami… But then, Light supposed he never asked. It just seemed ludicrous that Shinigami might have _souls_ let alone soulmates but Ryuk’s comment… it implied that Shinigami had soulmates too. 

That was new information to him. 

And Light supposed he _could_ kind of see what Ryuk was suggesting. Rem had cared for, _loved,_ Misa so much that she had died for her… But, while Rem might have loved Misa, Misa clearly hadn’t felt the same way. Then again, she also, obviously, hadn’t felt the same way with her own soulmate either, preferring to chase after a delusional “love” for him that would never actually exist then even _consider_ her actual soulmate... While Light supposed that was convenient for him he couldn’t help but somewhat judge her for it. 

_How heartless is she, to dismiss her own soulmate so easily? And seriously, how immature could she possibly be? Just because her soulmate wasn’t me?_ Light sneered as he recalled how Sayu had handled her unfortunate circumstance much more maturely than Misa had.

“Well, _obviously not,”_ Light snorted at Ryuk’s comment. “If it was Rem, Misa’s consciousness would be trapped in a pile of ash right now.”

Both Light and his Shinigami snickered at the thought. 

That would have solved at least one of his problems… 

No, he shouldn’t think like that—as obnoxious and grating as she was he still needed Misa for her eyes. 

“No, he was a human, Misa’s soulmate,” Light elaborated, “One of her co-stars as far as I understand. Hideki Ryuuga.” 

**“But… not…?”**

Light blanched when he realized the source of Ryuk’s confusion. “ _No!_ No, not… _him!_ The actor.” 

**“Oh… of course. But wouldn’t that cause problems for you?”** Ryuk recalled that that was an ancient trap set by L back in their college days—that if anything happened to Hideki Ryuuga, Light would be arrested for being Kira. 

“He’s been alive for… what? Almost four years since then? And Misa promised she wouldn’t use a heart attack to get rid of him. People do, in fact, die without Kira’s help. _All the time._ They can’t blame _everything_ on me,” Light added bitterly. 

Ryuk cackled at that. 

“Do Shinigami even experience the Soulwalk?” Light asked then, genuinely curious. To the bored genius new information—especially new information about the Shinigami and the source of his powers—was a rare and precious commodity. 

**“I…Heh. I suppose we do. Sometimes I’ve observed young Shinigami going into a kind of a catatonic state. They just sit there and forget to write names until someone shakes them and snaps them out of it so maybe…”**

“Did that happen to you?” 

**“It did. It was the same as the others. Nothin’. But then… I suppose if our soulmates are humans, then the odds are they would almost never even be born in the same era when a Shinigami did the Soulwalk. And Shinigami aren’t really supposed to care about humans anyway so, it’s not like it matters,”** Ryuk insisted. **“I-I’ve never concerned myself with that stuff, really. I mean look what happened to Rem!”** Ryuk snorted in self-deprecation. **“And what are the odds across time and space and dimensions that I’d finds someone suited for a _Shinigami._ ”**

“What about another Shinigami?”

 **“I…I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. As far as my understanding, _somebody_ needs to be fully alive for such a thing to even happen at all. At least at the beginning.”**

“So you never have to worry about your soulmate finding you,” Light turned away from the window to sag with bone-deep exhaustion into his desk chair. “Damn, you’re so _lucky._ ”

The Soulwalk had long been one of Kira’s worst fears. It had always seemed something of a cruel joke to Light—that what was so often spoken of as if it was the ultimate romantic experience had the potential to go so very horribly wrong. The Soulwalk, a sacred rite of passage in which a pair of predestined soulmates (supposedly temporarily) switched bodies with each other until they found each other and embraced with a kiss—it was stupid and juvenile and had the potential to really screw over Light’s plans. 

Ideally the Soulwalk happened when both soulmates reached their 25th birthday but that usually wasn’t the case. It was rare for soulmates to be the _exact same age_ born on the _exact same day_ so it usually happened when the eldest of a pair of soulmates had their 25th birthday. So for some people the Soulwalk was a predictable rite of passage but for others who had an older soulmate, or happened to have an unfortunate age gap with their soulmate it was a terrifying and traumatic experience, one that could happen to you at any time. 

Others like Light’s fourteen year old younger sister. 

Though he was never inappropriate while trapped in her body and took all the necessary steps to remedy the situation as quickly and chastely as possible, Matsuda was no longer invited around the Yagami house after their Soulwalk because the Yagamis had all agreed that Sayu was much too young to be thinking about things like her soulmate and Sayu herself wasn’t at all pleased to be predestined to be with someone so old.

Knowing all this, the Soulwalk had been a constant source of stress for Light since becoming Kira. After what happened to Sayu and especially considering how it might complicate his plans Light had made it a point to look up everything that could go wrong. And there were no shortage of horrible possibilities that could befall you upon randomly switching bodies with someone: 

There were cases of people finding themselves in the body of someone they knew and hated. 

There were cases of Soulwalks happening when one or both parties were engaging in sex with someone else.

There were cases of men switching bodies with women giving birth. 

And no one really wanted to disclose just how many police and battlefield casualties were due to random Soulwalks. 

And of course there were the (previously rare) cases where for whatever reason people never found their way back and remained trapped in their soulmate’s body. 

Or worse, if your soulmate had died before you even underwent the Soulwalk… 

Then there was Light’s own personal fear that it would happen while he was writing names in the Death Note and that his soulmate wouldn’t be loyal to Kira and that he’d stupidly be exposed in that way. 

And Light knew that if his soulmate was older than him it could happen at any time. 

But since there wasn’t really anything he could do about it he tried to put it out of his mind. Light had already dedicated his mind and soul to saving the world from evil. He couldn’t stop for anything, even his fated soulmate. He would worry about the Soulwalk and all its complications when it happened and he was sure he would deal with them then, just as he’d dealt with everything life had thrown at him so far—somehow, with a grand plan, and even if he had to experience some unpleasantness it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. 

Besides if this person he traded places with truly was his _soulmate_ than surely they would understand that what he was doing was for the good of the world and would want to help him fulfill his goals to the best of their ability. 

**“Lucky… yeah,”** Ryuk croaked in response, his usually dry throat now feeling drier than dust.

Perhaps he had once thought as Light did but Ryuk had been alone and just… very bored, and trapped in this hollow existence for such a very long time. Perhaps things wouldn’t be so soul-crushingly boring back home if he had someone to share it with… 

Ryuk snapped himself out of it. There was no sense on dwelling on things that he could never have and would never happen.

 **“It kind of sounds like you were _hoping_ Misa was your soulmate,”** Ryuk remarked, deflecting, and safely changing the subject back to Light.

Light shrugged. “I guess…”

 **“But… I thought you hated her?”**

“I do. But it would have been the most convenient,” Light sighed and ran his hand through his brown bangs. “Honestly, I’m not too fond of the idea of having a soulmate at all, you know? It just… it makes life seem rather pointless. If you don’t even get a choice in the matter.” 

**“You know there’s always the choice to walk away. Or to choose to remain platonic. You don’t _have_ to fall all over your soulmate. That’s just… generally what happens. I guess this might be a cultural difference but to Shinigami having a soulmate… that’s a rare and precious thing. I think I’ve heard of it happening like _once_ in like ten thousand years.”**

Light gave a start. “Ten thousand years? _Ryuk? You’re ten thousand years old?_ ” 

**_“Older,”_** the Shinigami grunted. **“I’ve been around since before humans began counting the years.”**

“That… that’s amazing, Ryuk! I can’t even imagine the things you must have seen.” 

Ryuk swallowed, not sure of what to do about that soft gaze and open admiration being directed towards him and by _Light_ of all people and completely unaware of the rarely seen softness entering his own golden eyes.

 _I’ve lived ten thousand years and nothing I’ve ever seen compares to the experience of watching you._

**“Oh, uh… _wouldn’t you like to know?_ ”** Ryuk chuckled, trying to play it cool and unaffected, but he could tell that Light wasn’t entirely fooled. 

“I _would,_ actually,” Light insisted.

 **“You would?”**

“Yes.” 

**“Uh… what do you want to know?”**

“I guess… anything you’re willing to tell me?” 

**“Uh, that… might take a while.”**

“That’s okay,” Light insisted, smirking his typical disgustingly arrogant smirk “We have time.” 

Dammit, if Light kept looking at him _like that,_ he just might—even if it was at Ryuk’s own expense. 

***

Nearly four years had passed since that day. 

Light’s sister had been kidnapped by Mello’s gang and returned a broken shell. 

His father was dead. 

Near was breathing down his neck.

And he hadn’t even experienced the Soulwalk yet. 

Considering how much had gone wrong, so fast, the latter was giving Light even more anxiety than usual. His twenty-fifth birthday was looming now like a mark of doom upon his calendar.

Light stood alone, save for Ryuk, on the roof as the pair watched the sunset over the city.

 _Still his city._

He'd clawed his way to the top. Sacrificed _so much_ for the sake of a more perfect world. 

These bargain-discount L _pipsqueaks_ would not take it from him now. 

For all that the world had nearly accepted Kira not much seemed to change… It made him nostalgic for the early days when he’d first started out as Kira. When L... at least then he hadn't been bored. 

Ryuk gazed upon his human with something almost approaching concern. They’d made a habit of coming up here more often now. He imagined Light enjoyed the view. It was probably easier to imagine himself a God up here too while looking down on the rest of humanity. 

Light abruptly broke the silence. 

“You know I’m going to be twenty-five soon.”

 **“Yeah?”**

Light trailed his hand down his face. “With my luck, it was probably L.” 

**_“Oh…”_** Ryuk paused, considering. **“Wasn’t L older than you?”**

Light tore his gaze away from the cityscape (his city, his kingdom, that was or would soon be singing "Glory Be The Name of Kira") in alarm. He hadn’t even _considered_ that. If anything he’d assumed that L was _younger,_ though he supposed he had no reason to assume that, other than the detective’s obnoxiousness and somewhat childish mannerisms. But why would Ryuk assume he would somehow know L’s age? He hadn’t even known the guy’s _name_ when he was still alive. 

“I… I don’t know. Why does that…? _Oh._ ” 

**“Yeah. You know I don’t really care about this stuff but I thought, like… the younger of the pair usually doesn’t soulwalk unless their soulmate is like _really, really older_ and soulwalked before their soulmate was even born. As they say, ‘only then does the cycle begin anew.’”**

“Wait, _that_ can happen?” 

Ryuk shrugged. **“Happens to Shinigami all the time. The latter at least. Of course, if you were born so out of sync with your soulmate finding them is next to impossible.”**

“Oh. Wow that _sucks._ ” Light, personally, still wasn't too keen about finding his soulmate but he could see that Ryuk was a bit put out about that. 

Ryuk snorted. **“Yeah. You could say that. It’s… a very lonely existence, you know. Being a God,”** Ryuk remarked but Light was already lost in his thoughts again. 

“I-I didn’t even know his age, Ryuk. I… I got to know him as my opponent. I learned to think like him, but in the end I knew next to nothing about him,” Light realized aloud. “I know he was a liar. And a manipulator, and a sneaky bastard. He had a brilliant mind. He controlled all of the world’s police departments from the shadows and he had a veritable army of criminals at his command. That’s probably why he opposed Kira. He made use of criminals. He _was_ a criminal. He especially favored perverts and peeping toms to do his surveillance work. Fitting, really, given he was a pervert too,” Light chuckled to himself at that before abruptly stopping and moved on quickly without elaborating any further. “Oh and he liked candy. I find that’s the thing most of the taskforce remembers about him.” Light sighed and they stood for a while, the world silent but for the wind and the ticking of his watch, reminding him of the passage of time. 

“So, I know it isn’t Misa,” Light reasoned aloud while idly scratching his chin. “It probably isn’t Takada either. If this whole thing with Misa has done anything, it’s only confirmed what I’d already long known, or at least suspected—I’m not attracted to women.” 

Light seemed to come back to himself for a moment, realizing he had been voicing his thoughts aloud and blushed slightly. He’d just gotten used to having Ryuk around. He was the one being—the one _confidant_ —he could bounce ideas off of and it had felt natural as he was saying it. He trusted Ryuk with _more_ intimate and dangerous secrets all the time so why not this? Ryuk, mercifully, withheld comment and judgment to his admission—maybe such things weren’t as big of a deal to the Shinigami so Light wasn’t about to make a big deal of it either and just continued as if this was a normal topic of conversation for them. 

Society at large seemed to slowly be getting better about such things, especially when it came to your soulmate, but Light was aware that such an admission would get him odd looks were he to be so open about it. He didn't think he would have ever dared consider it, had Ryuk not been so blasé about these things. 

Then again, Light supposed that when you were often up, late at night, whispering with your Shinigami about your favorite ways to make people die… well, anything else just seemed tame in comparison. 

“I suppose it might be nice if it was Mikami but… no, that’s impossible. He’s older than me so if we were predetermined soulmates it should have happened by now—” Light remarked, an almost dreamy expression crossing his face. 

Ryuk felt an odd twisty feeling deep in his core. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Mikami to be perfectly honest. The Shinigami had seen him in action, Mikami was more unhinged than Light, and for some reason Ryuk didn’t like the idea of Mikami being closer to his human than his current role of devoted minion. Ryuk wasn’t exactly sure why that was. He was just here to watch the fun go down. It’s not like he gave a shit about any of the humans involved. Or at least that’s what he told himself. 

**“Well, unless he’s like… I don’t know, _a vampire_ or something and born a really long time ago…”**

Light glanced up at that in open interest. “Do vampires exist?” 

**“I’m speaking hypothetically, of course. I’ve never met a vampire. I suppose it’s possible. Or it could just be a human fairy story. Who knows?”**

Light snorted. “Well, while I appreciate the input, that doesn’t really help me at the moment.” 

**“Sorry,”** Ryuk said, idly scratching his black hair spikes. 

“So unless it’s some random stranger… But I just can’t believe that. No, L is the only human I can think of who it ever might have possibly been…"

Light shook his head.

“You know, I admired him once,” Light continued, conversationally. Though Ryuk realized he might as well have not even been there—the way that Light stared into the distance, into nothingness, he might as well have been a million miles away. “If we weren’t who we were to each other… _who am I kidding?_ This was always the only way we ever could have met. Ryuk, I… I thought I loved him, once…” Light confessed and Ryuk felt something deeply uncomfortable twist in his gut again for reasons he couldn’t articulate. Maybe he needed another apple soon. 

“…I didn’t remember he was already a dead man,” Light looked away. “There was nothing I could do to stop it.” 

**“You miss him, don’t you?”** The Shinigami said gently. 

“I don’t… I don’t miss him getting in the way of my plans. But… I guess it was… fun, playing against him. I miss talking to him. But it’s more than pointless to think of what ifs. Especially since…” Light let out a bitter laugh, “He was a bastard you, know? So we we’re probably meant for each other and the memory-less me was a _sentimental idiot._  
I don't know if I ever did thank you, Ryuk. If _that's_ who I would have been without... _I'm so glad that's not me!_ Naïve fool. Did I ever tell you, Ryuk? What the other me did? What _I_ did without my memories? Without knowing I was Kira the _little idiot_ reinterpreted the memories of my interactions with L as attraction! Can you believe!” Light forced out another laugh. “It was a stupid little crush… and L most certainly capitalized on it. But he was blind to what was right in front of him. He saw only what he wanted to see and he was just trying to get one-up on Kira when Kira wasn’t even there. He used him, but the little moron really did love that bastard and in return he broke my… _HIS fucking heart._ So yes, Ryuk, to answer your question I suppose I do miss him. But I can’t say I’m sad that he’s dead. My only real regret is that I didn’t get to do it myself.” 

Ryuk looked on in concern. The Shinigami was by no means an expert on humans or on the working of the human mind but he couldn’t imagine it was very healthy to _hate yourself so much._

Light’s actions he had taken without his memories of the notebook were his own, just as his actions he’d taken _with_ the notebook were also his own. Even if he had disavowed them now, the “sentimental little idiot” Light was referring to was only himself. That didn’t seem too sane, constantly referring to yourself as another person. But then again neither was assuming you were a God when you were, in fact, just a squishy little mortal. 

**“If it _is_ L you might end up stuck in a body of a corpse while your own body is catatonic.”**

Light cringed. “I’m aware.” 

**“You know if that’s the case… it might be more merciful for me to just write your name.”**

_“Don’t you dare—!”_

**“Hey! No need to shout! I’m just trying to spare you an eternity of suffering, that’s all.”**

Light’s murderous glare softened slightly at his Shinigami’s explanation and, with a defeated air, looked away. 

**“Let me know if you change your mind, alright?”**

“No, there’s a way out of this. There _has_ to be,” Light insisted before resuming his gazing out at the sunset, a lingering melancholy in his eyes. “It’s got to be L. I can’t think of any other human it could possibly be...” 

Just when Ryuk was about to assume Light had given up, his eyes flashed with some unnamed emotion and Ryuk watched, perplexed, at how his human seemed to come alive again—it was almost like he’d accepted death a moment before only to be suddenly reanimated by a jolt of lightning. 

“ _I know who my soulmate is!_ I can plan around it! _This won’t defeat me!_ ” Light snarled, sounding almost feral. 

**“What are you gonna do, Light?”** Ryuk asked but Light was already bolting back inside. 

He had work to do, things to prepare, plans to be made and not another moment to waste. 

***

Light had feverishly spent the last few days looking up every known case of a Soulwalker returning even though their soulmate had died prematurely and before the Soulwalk took place. In every case it was only when the Soulwalker could identify who their deceased soulmate was and embraced the corpse of their destined before the Soulwalk began. So if you could identify who your soulmate was supposed to be and if you had access to the body there was a chance, however slim, of surviving the Soulwalk even when your soulmate was dead. 

“I need to make arrangements,” Light murmured aloud and Aizawa looked up sharply. 

Just then L’s hacker cave set up buzzed, alerting them to the incoming call from the SPK. 

_“It’s Near!”_ Matsuda announced, unnecessarily. 

“He can wait,” Light said, ignoring the call. 

Aizawa was now openly staring, his suspicions evident. Light ignoring a call from the SPK was very unusual. As was the way Light was acting. He seemed uncharacteristically flustered for some reason. 

“You see uh, guys? I need to make arrangements but all things considered I wanted to make sure to let you guys know first… my twenty-fifth birthday is coming up.”

 _“Oh!”_ Matsuda squeaked, “That’s right, you haven’t Soulwalked yet, huh? You think it’s Taki?” 

“Wait, are you asking us for time off?” Aizawa asked, in obvious confusion. While the chain of command sometimes got confusing what with Light playing the role of L and Aizawa being next in line now that the Chief... But despite his young age for all intents and purposes Light _was_ the boss. “I mean, it’s the Soulwalk. Of course you can take all the time you need…” 

“It’s not… it’s not just that… just, dammit, there’s no good way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I need to exhume L’s grave.”

 _“WHAT?!”_

“I mean, I hate to do this but I don’t think there’s another choice.” 

“Wait, you don’t mean… _You’re sure?_ ”

“As sure as I can possibly be,” Light replied hollowly while refusing to meet their eyes. “If I’m in contact with my deceased soulmate during the Soulwalk there’s a chance that I can transfer back. And in any case I’d rather not end up trapped… buried underground.” 

The taskforce stared at him in collective horror. 

“Right… we’ll make the proper arrangements,” Aizawa agreed. He wouldn’t wish such a fate on anyone. Even if Light was… might be… No. While his suspicions lingered he really didn’t want to think that of the Chief’s son. 

“Thank you,” Light said earnestly. 

“Light, I… I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s fine, Matsuda,” Light forced out a shaky smile “Though the Taskforce should take steps to decide who the next L is going to be if the transfer doesn’t work.”

“Don’t talk like that, Light it will work!” Matsuda declared. The rookie might be an overly optimistic idiot but Light very much welcomed his pep talk right about now. 

“I hope you’re right.” 

_“It will.”_

***

For the luckier half of the population who could predict when their Soulwalk would begin it was always at midnight on the day of your birthday so at least Light knew when and where he had to be. 

Only after the taskforce got the whole mess involved of ensuring they’d have the graveyard to themselves on the night of the 27th and in the small hours of the morning of the 28th of February did Light bother to return Near’s call. 

It seemed the little pretender wanted to meet face to face soon. 

With all the stress of dealing with the Soulmate situation, dealing with Near had fallen to the wayside. 

Ideally he’d eliminate Near and his enemies before he had to deal with the Soulwalk thing but it looked like things just weren’t going to work out that way. 

Light had been waiting for an opportunity like this to wipe out his enemies. 

Unfortunately… 

“Oh… I’m afraid we can’t make it on the 28th of January. We’ve got a police forum booked on that day and then, let’s see… Matsui’s dentist appointment. An Internal review…” 

(“Ugh, That sucks!”

 _“Matsui!”_ ) 

“Let’s see… then there’s…” The Valentine’s Day office party, there was no way the taskforce was cancelling _that_ again, and then the Aizawa family have a school play happening that week and had asked for time off. He needed _all_ the investigators there when it happened… 

“February is pretty busy, I’m afraid. And then of course there's Foundation Day and The Emperor’s Birthday and… “ 

“Okay, what about the 28th of _February?_ ”

“That’s my birthday.” 

“Oh, _heaven forbid_ we interrupt your party—” 

Light hid a smirk, silently applauding himself that he'd managed to irritate this sorry imposter enough to actually openly express his irritation.

_Near. You will never compare to the REAL L!_

Light abruptly terminated that line of thought before he made himself sad. He had to compartmentalize. 

“Soulwalk,” Light interrupted Near's rant, somewhat smugly. That one word actually got Near to shut up for ten seconds. 

“…You have a soul?”

“Ah... so you have a sense of humor?” Light replied with a smile. “Sorry Near, we’re booked for all of February. It looks like the soonest we can meet is in March.” 

“…I get the feeling you aren’t taking this seriously.” 

“Well, I know I’m not Kira so unless _you’re_ Kira, Near, it’s just a waste of time and resources. And frankly, it’s dangerous to have both groups of Kira’s detractors in one place. All this meeting does is needlessly endanger the lives of our officers. But if you insist…”

_“I do.”_

“Then I suppose we’ll see you in March.” 

“Until then, _Kira._ ” 

Light rolled his eyes as Near terminated the call. 

***

After a somber little office party the taskforce had thrown for his birthday, Mogi agreed to remain behind in order to keep Misa occupied while the rest of the taskforce would accompany Light to ensure nothing untoward was going on during the course of their graverobbing. 

Light might have been insulted if he hadn’t already decided that the taskforce played into his plans moving forward. 

Of course it was a freezing night at the end of February so it was heavy coat weather but at least it wasn’t raining—though the looming darkened skies threatened it often enough.  
Ryuk had offered to come along for moral support (and to perform a mercy killing if it became necessary) but ultimately Light decided against it. He needed Ryuk to keep his distance now, at least as much as their bond allowed it, now that the Taskforce could see him.

Light suppressed a sigh—there was no help for it. He would be, unfortunately, reliant on the taskforce to keep him safe during the duration of the Soulwalk so it wouldn’t do to order them around like peons. So Light took up a shovel and, with the help of only Matsuda (who had volunteered with almost worrisome eagerness), got to digging. 

It was with a solemn air that they exhumed the grave and pried open the casket. 

Light paused to wipe the sweat and dirt from his brow before forcing himself to contemplate the next stage. His thoughts briefly (and mournfully) wandered to the bag of chips he’d left in the car—he hadn’t eaten in hours and all this digging and other hard labor was making him hungry—but he supposed that would be inappropriate, given the circumstances. 

Especially given that even Matsuda wasn’t complaining and it wasn’t even his Soulwalk.

So he’d survive… probably. 

Provided he survived the Soulwalk at all. 

It was time.

Light allowed himself to look at what he’d done.

Kira knelt before the remains of his once greatest foe. 

“I’m sorry…” Light quickly caught himself, fully aware he was being watched by the taskforce. 

“I’m so sorry. I never saw the Shinigami—we’ll catch Kira! _Together._ For you, Ryuuzaki,” Light swore, doing his best to sound grief-stricken and earnest. To his own surprise he found he didn’t have to try too hard. For some reason the tremor in his voice came naturally. 

Light secretly smirked as the taskforce ate up his act, just as they were supposed to. 

Light paused. There was still time for a little more manipulation before midnight, before he had to do the dirty deed. 

“Aizawa… can I have a word in private?” 

“I don’t see why you can’t say it in front of the others,” Aizawa insisted, arms folded across his chest. 

Light pinched the bridge of his nose. “…Fine. If I don’t come out of the Soulwalk, I want you to take over as L.”

 _“Me?”_

_“Him?”_ Matsuda interjected, “But he thinks you're Kira!”

“I know he suspects me. L did too. And I don’t blame you, Aizawa. I know I fit the profile and I would suspect me too if I were in your shoes. But, sorry guys, Aizawa really is the most capable leader and investigator of anyone here. If this doesn’t work… I really think you should take over as L.” 

Ide nodded, “He’s right. It should be you.” 

“Ide, I… I’ll do my best.” 

“Yeah, that’s the spirit,” Light said, making to put on a brave face but letting the others see his (real) fear. 

“You really don’t think you’re coming back, are you?” Aizawa spoke his observation aloud. 

Light winced slightly but Aizawa caught it. “I can hope, but I know the odds are slim.” 

The offer of a promotion and the display of vulnerability had worked. 

Aizawa was clearly beginning to doubt himself again. 

(Could he truly be wrong about Light? He hoped he was. He didn’t want to believe it, for the Chief’s sake if nothing else. And if Light was right and L had been his Soulmate…  
Surely _Kira_ couldn’t be L’s soulmate. That would be absurd!) 

“I… It’s almost midnight,” Aizawa reminded him, “You should, uh… we’ll just…” 

Light nodded as the taskforce moved to give him some privacy. 

They all understood what must be done. Light would have to kiss L’s corpse if he wanted to survive this and not get trapped in said corpse during the Soulwalk. 

And frankly, no one wanted to see that. 

“Uh, yeah… Thanks” Light said in a rare moment of awkwardness as he knelt down over L’s body. 

Aizawa looked away. “We’ll come check on you if we don’t hear from you in a half hour.”

Light nodded again and focused on the task at hand. 

The corpse felt surprisingly heavy in his arms and it was remarkably well-preserved considering how long he’d been in the ground. Light couldn’t get over the fact that L looked like he was _sleeping,_ not dead. Perhaps he might have paid this fact more mind had he not been stressing out so much over the Soulwalk and his potential pending doom. 

Light shook his head as if to clear it. No, that way laid madness. 

L was dead. There was no coming back. He knew that better than anyone. 

(No matter how much he wished...)

And the corpse couldn’t possibly be as good as it looked, really. Not after so many years underground. He was probably all maggoty on the inside… 

Light forcefully swallowed down the hot bile that burned his throat. 

Could this really be his Soulmate? 

No, it _had_ to be L. 

At this point, if it wasn’t L, then it was probably some random nobody and if that were the case, well, it would probably be for the best for both him and his soulmate if they never really got to know each other properly. They should stay the hell away from him, _far away_ and they just might live. He _could not_ and _would not_ stop his chosen mission to save the world. Not even for his soulmate. Still, Light felt a wisp of sympathy towards this hypothetical nobody soulmate because if it _wasn’t_ L and it was just some random then they would Soulwalk only to find themselves kissing a corpse. 

Well, if that didn’t scare them away, Light wasn’t sure what would. 

Light grimaced, swallowing down his disgust again, and dutifully locked lips with the corpse’s cold ones just as his watch ticked down the final seconds to midnight and the transfer began. 

His perception shifted… 

Suddenly, he wasn’t in the graveyard anymore. 

Light realized, with a jolt that he was back at HQ. 

His… _Soulmate(???)_ had been lounging on the well-worn, comfortable couch while a soap opera played quietly on the TV. 

After all the nightmare scenarios he’d come up with it was pretty anticlimactic. 

Light couldn’t help but let out a laugh—and then froze when he did. 

He recognized that laugh.

 _No way!_

Light abruptly stood and upon doing so realized he was seeing the world from a higher vantage point—he was _taller._

Given that in his own body he stood at around six feet tall, Light knew very few people who were taller than him. Looking down at his hands to find them replaced with black claws only clinched it. 

It was indeed. 

_Ryuk. I’m in Ryuk! **“Oh, thank God!”**_

Light startled again by just how deep and guttural his voice sounded. 

But after the initial shock at this discovery he was just so relieved he wouldn’t be inhabiting the dead detective’s body and that he had traded places with the one being he didn’t have to worry about knowing, or spilling, his secrets that he didn’t waste any brainpower considering the ramifications of the fact that Ryuk was his soulmate. 

For now, his main priority was to get his body back. 

***

One minute he was lounging on the couch in Taskforce HQ with a big bowl of tasty apples watching his late-night soaps and in the next he was experiencing an odd swoon and seeing a flash of colors and bright lights. As soon as the flash had ended he found himself kneeling in the dirt, a heavy winter coat draped over his shoulders as he gently held and locked lips with the remarkably well-preserved corpse of the detective that his human had found so troublesome. 

It felt strange, occupying such a small, fragile body. He felt oddly warm all over—warm, and _alive_ —the thunder of Light’s steady heartbeat echoed in his ears.

A living heartbeat, _mortal._

Ryuk was suddenly hyperaware of the Taskforce surrounding him, Light’s teammates and the cops hunting him, and he was never more aware that Light was constantly playing a dangerous game. 

Right, don’t act suspicious. 

“It was him, wasn’t it?” Matsuda asked gently, clearly referring to the corpse of the detective that “Light” still clung to his chest. 

Ryuk nodded, sorrowfully. “Y-yeah. Yeah. It was him. It… I was Ryuuzaki.” 

Even if he was playing Light, it only made sense he’d be shaken after experiencing such a disturbing Soulwalk. 

Ryuk saw the pity in their eyes and had to struggle hard to hold in a laugh.

In doing so he gained a greater respect for Light who somehow managed to do this, to fool them _all the time._

Speaking of, Ryuk hoped Light wasn’t freaking out too badly in his body…

“I’m so sorry,” Matsuda said with genuine sympathy. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll catch Kira!” 

Ryuk forced a genial smile on his currently human face. Or tried to. It probably came out as a suspicious grimace given that Ryuk wasn’t used to displaying human facial expressions seeing as his own face was frozen in a clownish rictus grin. 

***

After a moment of confused straining, Light finally figured out how to extend Ryuk’s wings. 

He needed to get his body back, and fast. 

For a fleeting moment he had considered not switching back—in Ryuk’s body he truly was a literal God and he was certainly finding the prospect of being a Shinigami interesting. But as tempting as the prospect was he needed to exist in the world of humans to help his fellow humans. 

Not to mention he didn’t want to have to watch whatever embarrassing things Ryuk got up to while in his body and he was sure listening to Ryuk whine about it wouldn’t be very fun either… 

No, it was for the best. 

Besides, if he upset Ryuk who would he _even_ talk to—

Light froze at the realization that Ryuk was the closest thing he had to a friend. A _real, actual friend._

His _best friend_ (especially given that his _best enemy_ was dead) and all this time he’d just taken him for granted… 

No, he wouldn’t betray his best friend again.

Naturally L had been weighing on his mind a lot these last few days. He knew that these regrets were unbecoming of a God but he just couldn’t help it. He missed the bastard even though they had been mortal enemies. But perhaps now it was finally time to lay the past to rest. After all, he’d been dwelling on it so much he had failed to see what was right in front of him. 

It was Ryuk who provided companionship when he’d felt so very alone, who listened to him without judgment, and who had seen him at his worst and would never abandon him. 

_Couldn’t_ , really so long as he owned the notebook, and Light had no plans to ever give it up. Light spread Ryuk’s wings and gave an experimental flap. 

This seemed easy enough and he didn’t exactly have another transportation option at the moment. Well, if he couldn’t work it out he supposed he could grab onto a car that was heading in the general direction of the graveyard but that didn’t seem as dignified. He was sure he’d get the hang of it. And even if he didn’t on the first try, well, as far as he understood from Ryuk, Shinigami bodies were pretty much indestructible. 

***

The taskforce exchanged worried glances as they respectfully reburied L. 

They had all seen it. 

Light wasn’t acting quite himself since the Soulwalk, which was always a cause for concern. 

Some allowances could be made due to the traumatic nature of said Soulwalk, but… 

Maybe Light was wrong and Ryuuzaki wasn’t his soulmate. 

But if that was the case, if it wasn’t really Light they were speaking to but rather a Soulwalker in his body, then why hide it? Why pretend to be Light? And how would they even know enough to know who Ryuuzaki was and to guess the situation they now found themself in? 

What if it was a member of the SPK who had decided to take this opportunity to spy on them? 

Or worse, what if it was one of Mello’s mafia goons? 

*** 

Flying was everything Light dreamed it would be. 

On Ryuk’s wings, he made it back to the graveyard in record time. 

He wished he could appreciate this moment more, maybe go sightseeing flying around the city, see Tokyo as he never had before, but he didn’t have that luxury. He had to get to Ryuk before he did something that exposed them. 

He needed his body back. 

It was a fine body, if he did say so himself, and he wouldn’t want to see it, or Ryuk getting killed due to carelessness. 

Light cringed as he observed the current occupant of his body bumping into another headstone. 

Ryuk clearly kept forgetting he couldn’t phase through things seeing as he was human at the moment. 

This wasn’t good at all. 

While some allowances could be made given they believed he’d just come out of an unnerving Soulwalk with a dead soulmate (hell, even Soulwalks under the best of circumstances could be disorienting), but Light feared that if he kept acting so out of sorts the taskforce was bound to get suspicious. 

Light could tell that Ryuk was _trying_ but trying wouldn’t be enough. His posture was wrong. The way he walked was different. 

And while the taskforce was hardly made up of genii of his caliber they were still detectives and not stupid. 

Aizawa’s suspicion was a palpable thing and he clearly wasn’t alone. Light noted how he shared a wary glance with Ide. 

Even Matsuda’s worry was a cause for concern. 

“Are you really Light?” Ide demanded of poor Ryuk. 

“Wha—? Of course I’m Light!” 

_“Prove it.”_

“…How exactly do you expect me to do that?” 

It seemed he’d have to intervene before they guessed the truth. Light had wanted to wait until he and Ryuk were alone before attempting to transfer back but it looked like it was out of his hands, or, uh, claws as the current case may be. The current-Shinigami crept closer, trying to stay out of sight. 

This was fine. He could make it work. He had a plan. They could transfer back in plain sight and Light was sure the taskforce would be none the wiser. 

“What did I order at The Note Blue that time we went to Aoyama together?” Matsuda demanded. 

Light froze in his creeping, aghast. Shit, even _he_ didn’t know that. How did they expect him to remember some inconsequential thing that happened years ago? 

“You got an apple scone,” Ryuk answered without missing a beat. “I remember because you tripped and got it all over my favorite shirt.” 

Oh yeah, that’s right. He’d been happily suppressing that memory, thank you very much. Light supposed Ryuk remembered because he’d let Ryuk have the ruined shirt afterwards to lick clean of the apple-flavored desert. 

“It _is_ him!” Matsuda declared happily. 

Light couldn’t help but be pleased with this turn of events. He felt a swell of pride that Ryuk (his Shinigami, his best friend, _his soulmate!_ ) had handled himself just fine. That was good. He could wait to transfer back in a more private location.

“Only Light could have known that!” Matsuda declared and the absurdity of the situation was just too much. He _hadn’t_ known that. He would have failed Matsuda’s own test.

Light snorted, or rather _tried to,_ but instead his quiet amusement came out as obnoxious cackling which unfortunately drew attention to himself. 

Matsuda looked up, confused. 

_“Ryuk?”_

_Dammit!_ He screwed up. He’d been seen. It looks like he’d have to go through with his original plan after all even if it meant his reputation took a hit. Better to get his body back now, do damage control later. 

***

Ryuk in Light’s body looked up sharply. 

It was strange, seeing himself through Light’s eyes. 

To the humans he was big and terrifying. Of course he always knew that on some level but it was different experiencing it firsthand. 

Through Light's eyes his own form was terrifying. 

No wonder Light had thought him so ugly. 

***

 _“What the hell?”_

“What’s the Shinigami doing here?” 

Light in his body affected Ryuk’s odd cackle as he floated down to meet the taskforce. **“I… I heard that one of you guys was Soulwalking tonight. And with a dead human! I’ve never seen such a Soulwalk before. I was curious. I mean, I guess that means one of you had to kiss a corpse! _I bet that was a riot!_ ”**

Matsuda glowered angrily at the “monster” on Light’s behalf and stood protectively in front of him, or rather his body. “You just missed it,” Matsuda said tersely. Light might have been touched by Matsu’s protective display if he wasn’t overall such a fool. 

**“Ah, damn. I really wanted to see that.”**

“There was nothing to see, really,” Ryuk murmured while shuffling awkwardly behind Matsu. 

**“Oh, it was you, Light? Bet that wasn’t very fun.”**

“No… it wasn’t,” Ryuk answered honestly.

Ryuk wondered if Light was eager to get his body back and out of his hideous form... or if he’d leave him like this. Would he decide that being an actual God might be worth giving up his humanity? 

No, while Light liked gloating Ryuk didn’t think he’d be here if that was really the case. 

But then Ryuk imagined that, at least for the sake of Light’s own reputation, that he would like some discretion before… 

**“So… you’re human is dead, huh?”** “Ryuk” said cruelly, really getting into the part and tried to ignore the twisty feeling in his own core as he said it. He could ignore it. He was quite good at compartmentalizing. So L wasn’t his soulmate. So his soulmate was… 

That didn’t matter now. He just had to focus on the task at hand. 

**“Guess you’ll never get your soulmate’s kiss. Not really.”** "Ryuk" leered, casually leaning up against one of the larger gravemarkers with a confidant swagger and obnoxiously blocking their path forward. 

_“Shut up!”_ snarled Matsuda. 

**“…We have that in common, you know.”**

“Light” looked up cautiously. “Why so interested?” He challenged; eyes dancing with amusement and a slight curve to his lips. 

**“Just thinking… maybe you’d like a kiss from someone a bit more alive than a corpse.”**

Matsuda had his gun drawn and trained on him faster than he could blink (not that Light could blink in Ryuk’s body as far as he could tell.) 

The Soulwalking Light cackled mockingly. As if that would do anything against a Shinigami… 

Light allowed himself to revel in the moment—for just this moment he truly was a God… 

“Leave it, Matsuda. He’s just messing with us,” the Soulwalking Ryuk lied easily, in a fully “Light” move. He was thoroughly enjoying getting into his role. 

**“Have you forgotten I was sent here by Kira?”** The “Shinigami” asked rhetorically, eyes gleaming crimson and dangerous. Light was clearly having just as much fun with this as he was. 

“I would have thought that Kira would want good relations with the police,” “Light” said warningly just before Matsuda began shooting ineffectively at the indestructibly God of Death. 

“Matsuda, cut it out. He’s a Shinigami. He could kill us all if he wanted to.” 

**“Good thing I don’t want to.”** “Ryuk” snickered. 

“And what do you want?” 

“Ryuk” stared. Shouldn't that be obvious? As fascinating as all this was he really needed his body back. 

**"A kiss,"** he said simply. 

Maybe it was just being in Ryuk's body that made him so flippant but at the moment he was uncaring of how that sounded or what the Taskforce thought. 

Now there was only the task at hand. 

He'd deal with any consequences later if he managed to get his body back. 

Light swallowed (or tried to—Ryuk's throat was drier than he was accustomed to) would Ryuk even let him have his body back or would he decide it was more fun to screw with him this way? 

“That’s it?” Ryuk asked with Light’s suddenly dry voice. 

They both ignored the taskforce, gasping in horror around them. 

Light knew it would probably be wiser to wait until they were alone. 

Then again, Ryuk could get in trouble while in his body and where would that leave them? 

No it was for the best. 

Besides, now that they’d found each other Light found that the urge to… get his body back was almost overwhelming. 

This must be the so-called “magnetic pull” between soulmates that everyone waxed so poetic about. 

**“That’s it. Just a kiss. Just want to see what all the fuss is about. But I won’t do anything you don’t want to do. I swear on my honor as a Shinigami.”**

Aizawa snorted. “A Shinigami’s honor…” 

“…Alright,” “Light” hesitantly agreed. 

_“Light!”_

_“What are you saying?”_

*** 

Light puzzled for a moment about how to proceed. They had to kiss in order to switch back but how was he supposed to do that while in Ryuk’s body, without mauling his own face off? 

Oh, of course! He couldn’t help but notice that the Shinigami had an abnormally long tongue as he’d lounge around eating his apples. 

The answer seemed obvious now. 

*** 

“It’s just a kiss,” Ryuk defended. Fully intending to just give Light a quick peck and just get this over with. 

He didn’t imagine Light would want more than that for the sake of his reputation if nothing else.

Frankly, he was surprised he’d insisted on doing this while the taskforce watched… 

***

Light couldn’t wait any longer. He grabbed his own body carefully but with great enthusiasm, and, again carefully, covered fangs with lips and, wanting to use the safest and most expedient means of getting his body back, stuck the Shinigami’s tongue down Light's, _his own,_ throat. 

His perception abruptly shifted and suddenly he was on the other side. 

Now he was the one being held, cradled in Ryuk’s big paws, holding him carefully, moving him with ease. 

Now it was he who was choking on the too-long appendage being stuffed down his throat. 

Light shivered in Ryuk’s grip. 

This was not an ideal situation. 

After the transfer was complete and upon noting his distress, Ryuk quickly disengaged and set Light down.

Then Ryuk covered for them while Light panted, still trying to get air into oxygen-starved lungs.

 **“Thank you, Light, that was nice,”** Ryuk purred in his ear like a sated cat.

Light visibly shuddered but didn’t reply, he was still disoriented from the Soulwalk transfer and trying to retrain himself how to breathe after having the monster’s appendage shoved down his throat _and_ after inhabiting a body that didn’t have that same requirement, he’d momentarily forgotten how to breathe and that he needed to. 

He saw a flicker of disappointment in the monster’s eyes that he wasn’t playing along but he was a bit preoccupied at the moment. 

_Some of us need to breathe, asshole!_

Okay, technically he’d done this to himself but that didn’t stop him from aiming his ire at the Shinigami. 

**“Well… if you ever want another one of those, or well, _anything else_ really, you know where to find me,”** Ryuk cackled evilly, still playing up being the monster taking advantage of “that poor grieving Soulwidower” in front of the witnesses for Light’s benefit before he spread his wings and flew away.

So, L really wasn’t his soulmate. That fact really hit Light then, and he couldn’t quite keep the look of devastation off his face—which was probably for the best given they were being watched. When Light realized what Ryuk was doing ( _for him_ ) he quickly came back to reality and realized he was currently surrounded by the suspicious and now traumatized taskforce who probably had thought his embracing L’s corpse would be the worst thing they would see tonight. Now that he had his body back and the haze of the Soulwalk trance was clearing he realized he’d have to deal with the fallout—whatever that may be.

 _“Light!”_

“Hey… uh, you guys okay?” Light asked, haltingly. 

Was that the appropriate response? He was still kind of mixed up at the moment. 

He hoped to any God that would listen that they didn't ask him about Kira right now. 

Light froze in shock when Matsuda was suddenly hugging him. 

“That… that _beast!_ ” 

“I… it’s fine, Matsuda.” 

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah. I mean, just… give me a minute.” 

“Let’s get out of here,” Aizawa suggested, he too appeared visibly shaken. 

“I know a good place open late. Good food, good drinks…”

Light breathed easier, relieved at the sudden change of subject. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Thanks, Ide.” 

If the taskforce wanted to put this whole sordid affair behind them he wasn’t about to stop them. It wasn’t a bad idea, all things considered. Light had his reputation to salvage now and he needed to focus on his upcoming battle with Near… 

*** 

Light gazed out the window as Ide drove them away from the accursed graveyard, eyes unconsciously tracking the dark silhouette of his Shinigami. 

It had been, quick, perfunctory, the objective being just to get his body back, not pleasure. 

And through the trance of the soulwalk and the shifting perspectives he barely even _remembered it_ but—

It must have had _some_ impression on him. 

Ryuk had been his companion and constant shadow, had been watching him for years. 

But now Light couldn’t stop watching him. 

Aizawa caught the direction of Light’s gaze, where the monster flew beside the car. He still appeared dazed and unconsciously began rubbing against his lips. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Light abruptly tore his gaze away from the window and turned to him with a disarming smile. 

“I-I’m fine, Aizawa. Or… I will be. It’s just… been a day, you know?” 

“Do you want to talk about…?”

“No! I mean, no… It’s fine,” Light insisted.

Aizawa sent him a _look._

“I guess I’m slipping. I…” Light laughed. “I didn’t even realize the Shinigami was infatuated with me.”

Aizawa frowned as he too followed the sinister silhouette of the Shinigami. “He was probably sent by Kira to mess with your head.” 

“Maybe... Or maybe…” Light’s gaze drifted to the window again and a mad grin began to split his face. “If I get closer to him... maybe I could get him to tell me more about Kira.” 

“Don’t feel you have to do that, Light,” Aizawa said quickly, turning green at the prospect of just what Light was suggesting. Light was in a weird mood and Aizawa wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not but in any case… “That’s… that’s really dangerous.” 

And it was the sort of plan the original L would have done. _Had_ done. 

But with _Misa._ He’d asked Light to seduce _Misa_ who’d been a suspect at the time.

Not… not a _monster._

“Having him around is dangerous,” Light countered, easily. "No. I… I think I could… if it moves the case forward, it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” Light said; considerably more chipper than the situation really called for. 

Aizawa froze when he realized that Light was still smiling. Light was smiling and didn’t even seem to realize it. He still had that dazed look that was somewhat reminiscent of… 

Aizawa suddenly realized he’d seen such a look before. After he and Eriko... before they were married... 

No, that _couldn’t_ be… 

“Are you _sure_ Ryuuzaki was your soulmate?” Aizawa blurted before he could stop himself. 

Light finally turned back to him though now his eyes held more caution he was still smiling. 

“What do you mean?”

Smiling, like that demon that shadowed their every move was always smiling… 

“…Never mind.” 

It was _absurd._ It was a late night and he was seeing things. _Clearly._ He probably should skip the alcohol at this rate, despite how much he felt he needed it at the moment. They needed a designated driver anyway and Mogi was still on Misa-babysitting duty. 

What kind of person would have a Shinigami as a soulmate anyway—? 

Of course he knew the answer to that. 

Kira. 

Kira was the sort of person...

It was staring him in the face but when he thought of the Chief he just didn’t want to believe… 

Light laughed, lightly, cheerfully (sounding so _young_ and it’s just… he _couldn’t_ be. Not him. Not Light.) 

“At the very least I should probably pay more attention to Ryuk. If the Shinigami truly was sent by Kira to spy on us then it’s important to keep him distracted. To that end, I think an update to our gaming system at HQ is perfectly justified—” 

“Oh, hell yes!”

 _“Matsuda!”_ Aizawa just shook his head but internally he was sagging with relief. 

Games. He meant games. _Of course_ he meant games.

It was just this whole night messing with his head—

***

Light still wasn’t sure how he felt about all this. 

The whole Soulwalk held a dream-like quality to him. It hadn’t seemed real. 

And yet… 

It would come as no surprise to anyone who knew or thought they knew Light to learn that he generally preferred to be in control. 

However, his Soulwalk despite how chaotic, how out of control (how _helpless_ ) he’d felt… it had been interesting. 

Naturally, he’d never done anything quite like _that_ before. 

Light still wasn’t sure quite how he felt about having a Shinigami as his Soulmate but _that_ certainly wasn’t boring and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities… 

Despite everything, Light couldn’t quite put a damper on his more jovial mood. He just hoped that the taskforce attributed the spring in his step to being alive and his renewed vow to capture Kira. 

Light silently thanked Ide for his desire to go out for drinks because the alcohol they were consuming together might help cover for him a bit too. 

While this whole soulmate situation wasn’t what he was expecting (or what he’d…. he had been so _sure_ it was L...) 

But if Ryuk truly was his soulmate… 

Light was just beginning to realize the implications. 

_A Shinigami was his soulmate._

A God of Death. 

A _God._

That meant that it truly was fated—this really was what he was meant to do, who he was meant to be. Not that he’d ever really doubted himself, of course, but it was nice to receive validation from the universe. 

And could this mean the Shinigami actually cared about him as Rem had cared about Misa? 

It seemed absurd given Ryuk’s personality but he’d seen the way Ryuk looked at him. 

So maybe, _just maybe…_

If the Shinigami was on his side after all— 

It took all of Light’s self-control to not burst out laughing out loud.

_He was going to win._


	2. Epilogue

Meanwhile, after the taskforce left it, the graveyard still stood, silent and empty. 

Or at least, it should have been. 

Because the taskforce paid off the caretakers no one noticed the strange sounds coming from the recently disturbed unmarked grave, or the grasping hand that burst through the  
freshly tilled earth, or the undead form that had once been the world’s greatest detective that broke free of wood and earth and shambled away… 

***

“I told you to stop calling us, Backup.” 

“Roger, I’m telling you, _I’m not who you think I am!”_

“Oh, let me guess, you’re L, right?” Roger interrupted snidely, “A Soulwalk gone wrong trapped in the body of a serial killer. You’d think you’d come up with a new lie when no one fell for that the first twenty times.”

 _“But…”_

“Even supposing it was true do you think Wammy’s would want your tainted soul,” the caretaker sneered into the phone. 

“Roger, _please—_ ” 

“Time’s up,” the guard cut in gruffly before dragged him back to his cell. 

***

 _“Where the hell were you?!”_

Light winced at the too-familiar shrieking that greeted them upon their return. 

“Hey, Misa,” Light said neutrally, turning on the charming smile. 

“Light had his Soulwalk last night!” Matsuda cheerfully informed her.

 _Matsuda, you idiot!_

Light had to remind himself that Sayu would probably be upset if he killed her soulmate. 

Then again… she might just appreciate it. She never was too pleased having “old man Matsu” as her soulmate. Light forced himself not to snort at the thought because that would be severely inappropriate. He could never tell Sayu that his soulmate was even _older._ Not that that was really something to brag about. In any event, Sayu’s feelings weren’t really something he could afford to take into consideration at this point, because, Light realized, to truly be free and act as Kira he would have to kill Matsuda too along with the rest of the taskforce. Though, given how grossed out she’d been at the prospect Light didn’t think she’d be too broken up about it… 

_“Soulwalk?!”_ Misa repeated shrilly. 

Oh right, he should focus on the more immediate problem which was Misa.

“It’s that Kiyomi bitch, wasn’t it? _I’ll kill her!_ ” 

“It was L,” Light told her in a deadened voice. 

That stopped her in her tracks. 

Mogi got up from the couch then and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Sometimes people have more than one soulmate in their lifetimes,” he assured, “Don’t lose hope.”

Light gave a watery smile “Thanks, Mogi.” 

“Oh…” Upon hearing the news, a very odd play of emotions crossed Misa’s face before settling into a vicious grin. “Well, L’s dead….”

“I’m aware.” 

Light cringed as Misa hugged him. _“Misa wins!”_

 **“Hey!”** Ryuk interrupted and Light, along with the rest of the humans in the room, froze. He could feel the tension in the taskforce around them as “the Shinigami Kira had sent to monitor them” during the whole Mello affair spoke up again. Light hoped Ryuk didn’t forget himself in front of them. **“…We’re out of apples.”**

Light held in a sigh of relief. “Alright, alright, _Shinigami._ I’ll get you your apples,” Light placated, glad for the excuse, he got up quickly and (with a little help from Aizawa) managed to finally dislodge the clinging Misa. 

“Ryuk…” Light began quietly once they were in the kitchen and out of earshot, _“Thank you.”_

**“I… It’s no problem,”** Ryuk stammered out before swallowing down an apple whole. 

The pair eyed each other awkwardly. 

“So…”

 **“So… uh…”**

“Hey, Ryuk want to play Mario Kart?” Light interjected quickly. He was not at all ready to process what just happened, let alone discuss it with his… _apparent soulmate._

Maybe they were just platonic soulmates. 

That happened sometimes.

Ryuk was a Shinigami. Surely they weren’t compatible… 

Light wondered at the odd, niggling sense of disappointment he felt at that idea and immediately began thinking about the list of criminals he intended to judge tonight in order to try and steer his thoughts away from the kiss. 

Video games! 

Video games were surely a safe way of bonding with his Shinigami (soulmate!) without… going there. 

Light realized that they didn’t get to just hang out as often anymore what with everything that had been happening. 

He probably should play with him more. It was something Ryuk always seemed to enjoy and hopefully that social contact would keep him placated, at least for now. It was probably a good idea to keep Ryuk happy anyway given that Ryuk held his fate in his hands. 

Light hadn’t really ever forgotten that. It was just something he didn’t like to think about. 

And given the same was true for the taskforce, as far as they knew, surely they would see the need to keep “the Shinigami Kira sent to monitor them” occupied.

“Oh? Sure!” Ryuk answered, enthusiastically. He’d love to spend time with Light, ( _his soulmate!_ ) even if Light didn’t feel the same way. 

Of course. Soulmate or not surely Light wouldn’t want him. 

He was still _him_ , after all and while he was quite handsome for a Shinigami (if he did say so himself) Light had never been shy about pointing out that he found him hideous. 

He should get that idea out of his head right now.

 **“I’d love to play with you, Light,”** Ryuk answered sincerely. 

_“What the hell is going on in here?!”_

**“Oh, hey, Mr. Cop Man!”** Ryuk waved.

Light pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Aizawa have you gone over that list of suspicious deaths which I assigned you?” 

“I…” 

“I see. Well in that case, some of us have work to do. I’m afraid the Shinigami is bored and is considering going back to report on us to Kira. He’s just agreed to leave our investigation alone if I play video games with him for an hour,” Light lied smoothly. 

Aizawa shuddered. He didn’t know how Light and Matsuda could stand hanging out with that _thing_ let alone… 

“Alright. Well then, we’ll try and get some actual work done while you play with the Shinigami,” Aizawa said judgmentally, folding his arms.

Light looked annoyed. “Keeping Kira’s main way of monitoring the investigation occupied _is_ actual work, you know.” 

“You should just have Matsuda do that next time,” Aizawa argued. 

**“I’d rather have Light,”** Ryuk interjected smoothly, adding **“Matsuda’s a push-over,”** when Aizawa, again, began to look suspicious. 

“This is a plot by Kira to stall the investigation, isn’t it? Does this have anything to do with the, you know… with that _thing_ in the graveyard?” 

Ryuk growled and Aizawa shut up. 

Light shrugged, “I guess he just likes me.”

“…Right,” Aizawa grumbled as Ryuk led Light away, the Shinigami’s possessive behavior all but confirming Aizawa’s worst fears.

But, no… surely he was putting too much thought into this?

But what if “video games” was a euphemism for something else? What if he were to walk in there and see the Shinigami playing with Light’s joystick—

Aizawa shuddered. No, that was definitely not something he wanted to see.

***

 **“What?”** Ryuk demanded after Light had been eying him awkwardly for the past several minutes. 

“Ryuk… do you? Are you? Uh…”

 **“ _You_ kissed _me,_ Light,” ** Ryuk reminded him in a hushed tone. 

Light did that human thing where all the blood rushed to his face so he kind of looked like a human apple.

“Er…” 

Ryuk looked away. 

Soulmates were cherished among the Shinigami, that was true, but still Ryuk was weary. 

He was no fool. He knew Light. His clever human had already killed one Shinigami and, feelings aside, he would not be a tool for Light to use. 

He would _not…_

**_“I’m not Rem,”_** the Shinigami snarled abruptly. 

“I know that.” 

**“I won’t die for you!”**

_“I’m not asking you to!”_ Light was not sure what he’d said or done to get the monster acting so defensive and offered up an apple as a peace offering.

 **“Well… _good!_ ‘Cause I _won’t,_ ”** Ryuk insisted, but upon seeing the hurt in his human’s eyes he wondered which of them was the bigger liar.


End file.
